Roundup: Dhaka gets facelift as euphoric reception awaits China's Xi to Bangladesh

Bangladesh is all set to roll out red carpet for Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will arrive in Dhaka on Friday morning on his maiden trip to the country.

This will also be the first visit by a Chinese head of state to Bangladesh in 30 years.

Two Bangladeshi fighter jets will fly to act as escorts as soon as President Xi's special plane enters the country's air space. President Abdul Hamid will receive his counterpart at the airport, Foreign Minister AH Mahmud Ali told a press conference Thursday.

Xi will be given a full guard of honor at the airport, the highest tribute to a president. A 21-gun salute will be fired.

Xi's visit is expected to push bilateral relations to a new height and explore the full potential of economic and trade ties between the two countries.

In Dhaka, posters with pictures of President Xi and his Bangladeshi counterpart Md Abdul Hamid, and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, are currently adorning all the major streets and junctions across the city.

Dhaka is having a festive look with streets adorned with decorative lights and life-size cut-outs of President Xi, President Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Posters and banners have been planted on sides of the road, inscribed with messages wishing a further boost of bilateral ties between the countries.

Thousands of posters inscribed with "Long Live Bangladesh-China Friendship" have been put up along the around 14-km stretch from the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport to the main city.

"Heartiest welcome to his excellency Mr. Xi Jinping President of China," read many posters.

Various localities of the capital city have also been decorated to welcome Xi. Security across the city has been tightened as gun-totting personnel are seen in all the prominent areas.

Traffic on a portion of the Airport Road leading to the main city has already been limited as part of ensuring foolproof security.

Hundreds of welcome arches with cut-outs of Bangladeshi founding father and first President Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Xi, Hamid and Hasina added to a festival-like atmosphere in the city of over 15 million people.

"We are longing for an eternal Bangladesh-China Friendship," one arch reads.

Another reads, "You are cordially welcome to Bangladesh."

Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has expressed confidence that the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping would usher in "a new era of intensive cooperation" in trade, investment and other sectors between the two nations.

"We are very happy and feel honored that President Xi is coming to Bangladesh. I believe that President Xi's visit will also be more important for South Asia," the prime minister told Xinhua at her official Ganobhaban residence in the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

Speaking highly of the bilateral, the prime minister pointed out that the relations between the two nations are underpinned by "the Five Principles of Peaceful Co-existance, Spirit of Good Neighborliness, Mutual Trust, Confidence and Non- Interference into each other's internal affairs."

Hasina reaffirmed that Bangladesh strongly adheres to One China policy and supports China on issues related to its core national interests and efforts to safeguard its national sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The Chinese president's visit comes at a time when Bangladesh is about to break free from the clutches of low-level equilibrium trap and move into the frontier of investment, industrialization, ecological restoration and prosperity for all, according to Hasina. Endit